This post is part of our ReadWriteCloud channel, which is dedicated to covering virtualization and cloud computing. The channel is sponsored by Intel and VMware.
Today we're thrilled to announce the Road to the Cloud Contest. Thanks to our sponsors, we're giving out a MacBook Air every month though the end of the year to those in our community with the most well-thought-out views about the road to adopting cloud computing.
It's our first contest on ReadWriteCloud so it's pretty exciting for us. RWCloud has been around now for more than a year. And it has been a great ride as we've come to know the mosaic that this massive cloud computing ecosystem represents.
But still it seems at times that the basics get overlooked too often. We can get caught up in the newest services and overlook the essentials that are fundamental to adopting cloud computing. Add vendor noise and the result is plenty of confusion for the ordinary customer.
The road to cloud computing is a multi-step process. Companies don't just start a new network in the cloud. They go through a long process that is different for every organization. Customers need to understand this process to know what they should be looking for when embarking on their way.
And so for our first topic, we'd like your thoughts about the critical issues to consider when starting on that journey. Tell us about your road to the cloud and what you have learned.
Please consider this topic and comment accordingly:
A first step towards creating a virtualized infrastructure often comes at a point when the customer starts experiencing performance issues. Servers start failing as application loads increase. When these issues start occurring, what are the first steps to take into consideration? How should a virtualized infrastructure be deployed? How are these pre-production environments developed? What are the most effective ways to deploy a simplified, reliable and optimized virtualization solution?
We are hoping the contest will get people talking about the basic principles that they believe form the elemental foundations of a stack built for the cloud. We will pick our winners through the prism of this conversation. Each month I will co-judge the contest with a recognized individual in the cloud computing world. In this first contest, I am happy to announce that my co-judge is George Reese. George is the founder of enStratus, a cloud infrastructure technology solutions company with customers that include Korea Telecom.
Judges will be responsible for following the conversation threads and adding to the discussion.
Our criteria for choosing the winners is as follows:
- Depth of understanding
- Factual examples to back up assertions
- How the conversation develops
- Accuracy
- Strength of argument
- Concise writing
- Originality
The contest will run every 30 days, starting on the first of the month. Winners will also be announced on the first of the month. A Disqus account is required to participate. Please take a few moments to read the full list of rules before participating.
We look forward to the conversation!
